Florida Atlantic University Libraries

Jewish Heroes and Heroines in America

1900 to World War II:

Fanny Brice: Star In Vaudeville, Radio, Theater & Movies

by Seymour "Sy" Brody

Fanny Brice was in a class by herself when it came to
mimicry, comedy, comedy dialogue and the ability to put over
a song. She was able to establish a close rapport with
audiences which skyrocketed her to stardom and fame.

Fanny was born as Fanny Borach on October 29,
1891, in New York City, to Rose, nee Stern, and Charles Borach, both
immigrant parents. Her father's gambling and drinking caused her
mother to leave him with Fanny and her other three children, Philip,
Caroline and Lew.

Her career started when she began singing on the neighborhood
streets for pennies. When she was thirteen, she wanted to avoid paying
the admission charge at Kenney's Theater in Brooklyn, so she entered
the "Amateur Contest" to get in free. Her singing touched the hearts of
the audience and she won the five-dollar first prize.

She changed her name to Fanny Brice as she started her career in
the theater. In 1914, George M. Cohan and Sam Harris had a review,
Talk of the Town, and she managed to get herself cast as a chorus girl.
Her inability to dance cost her the job and she decided to take dancing
lessons.

She joined the Traveling Burlesque Company and when the
leading lady took sick, she was asked to sing her songs. Not having the
strength and fullness of an adult voice. she decided to sing them comically.
This launched her career as a comedienne.

In 1910, Florenz Ziegfeld offered Fanny a contract to appear in his
fourth Follies. The audiences loved her comic routines and Brook
Atkinson, of the New York Times, described her as "the burlesque comic
of the rarest vintage."

Fanny was not only known for her humorous songs, but also for
her tragic songs like My Man and Second-Hand Rose.
In The Song of the Sewing Machine, she sang about the plight of women working in
sweatshops. While her serious trademark was My Man, her comic trademark was Baby Snooks.

She met and married Jules "Nick" Arnstein, a gambler and
confidence man. They had two children, William and Frances. Arnstein
was in and out ofjall for his scams and finally he disappeared from her
life. She divorced him in 1927.

She met Billy Rose, a songwriter, and married him in 1928. She
divorced him in 1938 because of his affair with Eleanor Holm Jarrett, a
swimming champion.

Fanny Brice appeared in radio programs and movies. She starred
in her own radio program as Baby Snooks, in 1934. Her first film
appearance was for Warner Brothers in My Man, 1928. Her next film, in
Be Yourself was released in 1930. She then did The Great Ziegfeld,
1936; Everybody Sing, 1938, and a repeat of The Great Ziegfeld, in
1946.

Fanny Brice suffered a mild heart attack in 1945. She died of a
cerebral hemorrhage on May 29, 1951. Her daughter, Frances, was
married to movie producer Ray Stark, who produced the movie, Funnv
Girl, in 1964, a fictionalized version of Fannv Brice's life. Barbara
Strelsand was the star and she brought back the realism and majesty of
Fanny's comedy, burlesque routines and songs.

Fanny Brice never forgot, or let others forget, that she was Jewish.
Her struggle as a poor, young kid who became a star is an inspiration
and model for our youth.